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𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧
𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷:
"𝚖𝚊𝚡, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙."
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SOMEHOW, THE BASEMENT of the Wheeler house was always sort of a base for the group in Hawkins. It was where multiple D&D games had occurred, it was where they had hid Eleven when they first found her, it was where countless movie nights had happened, it was where they had found out that the Mind Flayer was still in Hawkins, and now, it was where they all were after finding out the worst news that they could've possibly received.
Nancy and Robin had given them copies of The Weekly Watcher, a newspaper notorious for its articles that were far-reached and absolutely crazy. Mackenzie sat on the familiar couch in between Dustin and Lucas while Steve paced around, reading up on Victor Creel Claims: Ancient Demon Killed Family. Apparently Victor Creel had been accused of murder of his wife and daughter, the type of murder than involved the snapping of bones and the removing of eyes.
"Uh, okay, be honest," Steve began. "Uh . . . you guys understand any of this?"
"No," Lucas answered.
"Pretty straightforward," Dustin said.
Steve gave him a look. "Oh, straightforward, really?"
"Well, what's confusing to you? So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found. He's the only known survivor. If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him."
"Yeah, that's assuming he was cursed, Henderson, which we don't even know. How can Vecna have existed in the fifties? It doesn't make sense."
"We don't know if Eleven actually created the Upside Down or not," Mackenzie voiced. "She only opened a Gate to it. As far as we know, the Upside Down has probably been under us since the beginning of time. Maybe even before Earth. I mean, it is a parallel dimension, right?"
"Okay, okay, but if a Gate didn't exist in the fifties, how did Vecna get through?" Lucas asked.
"Oh, and how he's getting through now?" Steve added.
"And why now?"
"And why then? Just pops out in the fifties, kills one family, and he's like, hey, I'm good. And poof, he just disappears. Just . . . gone? Only to return thirty years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don't buy it." He looked back down at the article. "Straightforward, my ass. You know what, honestly, Henderson, a little humility every now and then, it wouldn't hurt you."
"Sorry," Dustin replied.
Steve slumped down in a chair. Mackenzie sighed and averted her gaze from the article, looking straight ahead of her. At the small desk in the corner of the room sat Max, dimly lit by the lamp on the desk. She had been there ever since they had arrived in the basement. Max had immediately pulled out multiple pieces of paper and just started writing. All of them had left her alone, but that didn't stop the concern that raged through Mackenzie.
"Any idea what she's writing?" Dustin questioned. "Did she sleep?"
Mackenzie raised an eyebrow at him. "Would you have?"
The door at the top of the stairs then suddenly opened. Robin and Nancy descended down the steps. They had been away from the house for a little bit and had apparently just gotten back from being somewhere.
"Okay, so . . . we have a plan," Nancy revealed.
They handed one folder to Mackenzie and one folder to Steve. Mackenzie opened it, Lucas and Dustin peering over her shoulders at it. It was a student file of some sorts. Her eyebrows knit in thought, Mackenzie's eyes scanned over it.
"Thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame," Robin explained.
"I'm now Ruth," Nancy told them.
"And I'm Rose."
Steve raised his eyebrows. "Ruth?"
Dustin stared down at the file. "Nice GPA."
"Thanks," Nancy responded. "So we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics—"
"To which they said no," Robin stated as Mackenzie and Steve swapped files.
"But we landed a three o'clock with the director."
"Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor."
Nancy took a quick glance at the desk. "And then maybe we can rid Max of this curse."
"Yeah, uh, about that," Steve argued, taking the file back from Mackenzie. "We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh . . . we got some questions."
"Lots of questions," Lucas admitted.
"So do we," Nancy agreed. "Hopefully, Victor has the answers."
"Wait, wait, wait a second," Steve protested. "Uh . . . where's mine?"
At Nancy and Robin's sheepish expressions, it was clear that Steve wasn't tagging along for this trip. Steve followed Nancy and Robin up the stairs, protesting as he went. Evidently he didn't want to babysit them again, but Mackenzie had to admit, she was kind of relieved. Having Steve with them made her feel just the tiniest bit safer. She wouldn't admit that to his face, though. It would probably get to his head and inflate his ego more.
Mackenzie sighed and stood up from the couch. She wandered over to the telephone that was attached to the wall, the very same one that she had used to call Max and El the morning after Will had destroyed Castle Byers admitting that the Mind Flayer was back. Mackenzie shook that off. She didn't need to be thinking of memories like that right now. Mackenzie took the phone off and held it up to her ear, beginning to type in the number that she had memorized.
"Who are you calling?" Lucas inquired.
"Will," Mackenzie replied, her eyes on nothing but the keypad.
"I don't think calling your boyfriend is on the agenda right now, Kenzie," Dustin insisted.
Mackenzie leaned against the wall, listening to the phone ringing as she glared at Dustin. "I'm not calling him because I miss him, idiot. Okay, well, maybe that has a little bit to do with it, but everyone in California deserves to know what's going on over here. They have El, remember? She might not have her powers still, but with this whole thing, we need her more than ever. Maybe I can try and convince them to come back to Hawkins, or something."
The phone continued to ring. However, nobody answered, and the line just continued to be busy. Mackenzie took the phone away from her ear and stared at it in confusion. Whenever she called, Joyce would always immediately answer the phone. She had a new job as a telemarketer. It was strange that nobody was answering.
Mackenzie put the phone back onto the wall. She walked back to the couch and slumped down in her original position, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling. The lack of sleep and everything going on made her head start to spin.
"No answer?" Lucas asked.
"No shit," Mackenzie replied. "I don't know why they haven't been answering lately. Something's wrong. Really wrong."
Steve then came back down the stairs by himself, looking utterly defeated. He took one look at the three on the couch and their solemn faces. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed in to sit besides Mackenzie. It was a little tight, the four of them crammed into one couch, but it was still comfortable.
Mackenzie leaned her head against Steve's shoulder. He placed a comforting hand on her knee and patted it twice. Mackenzie slightly smiled at it. They all sat in silence, doing nothing but watching as Max continued to write whatever she was writing at the desk.
"I know you guys are staring at me," Max finally said after a little while.
"What, sorry?" Steve questioned, leaning forwards and grabbing a baseball, starting to throw it up in the air, forcing Mackenzie to pick her head up.
"You said you needed something?" Lucas added.
"Just hanging out."
Lucas and Dustin also grabbed some things from the table to pretend to read. Mackenzie, however, didn't. She was watching Max. It was only natural since she was so worried for her friend.
"How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don't know," Max voiced.
She then walked over to the couch with a pile of envelopes in her hand. Max looked at Lucas, Steve, and Dustin, who were doing anything but looking at Max. Her eyes then went to Mackenzie. Mackenzie gave her a small smile with a shrug.
"You can look at me now."
"Thank you," Dustin responded. "Sorry."
"Sorry," Steve repeated.
"Sorry," Lucas finished.
"I'm not sorry," Mackenzie revealed, making Max roll her eyes playfully at her.
Max handed an envelope to Dustin. "For you." Then one to Steve. "For you." Then one to Mackenzie. "For you." Then one to Lucas. "And, um, you."
Mackenzie stared down at her envelope. It was brown, and written in black pen it just read Kenzie. She stared down at it curiously.
Max then handed three more envelopes to her. "Oh, and, um, give these to Mike, El, and Will. If you can ever get a hold of them again." She then noticed Dustin starting to open his envelope. "Hey, w-what are you doing? No, don't. That's not for now. Don't open it now."
"Don't . . . okay," Dustin agreed, closing his envelope. "I'm sorry, what is this?"
"It's, um . . . it's a fail-safe. For after. If things — if they don't work out."
Mackenzie frowned. "Max, everything's going to be okay—"
"No!" Max exclaimed, making Mackenzie jump slightly. "No, I don't need you to reassure me right now and tell me it's all gonna be okay. Because people have been telling me that my entire life and it's almost never true. It's never true. I mean, of course this asshole curses me. Should've seen that one coming." She then exhaled before walking over to another table, grabbing a walkie. "If we go to East Hawkins, will this still reach Pennhurst?"
"Of course," Dustin answered.
"Wait, why are we talking about East Hawkins?" Steve interrupted. His face then morphed into one of realization. "No. No. No!"
None of them listened to Steve. Max grabbed her backpack and immediately left through the basement door. Mackenzie exhaled and grabbed her own backpack, trailing after Max. Steve, Dustin, and Lucas were all behind them. They maneuvered their way to the driveway and started to walk up towards the street, where Steve's car was parked.
Steve ran ahead to catch up with Max. "Max, Max, seriously. Seriously, I'm not joking, okay? I'm not driving you anywhere."
Max kept going. "Steve, if you think that I'm going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler's basement, then you're out of your mind. So you either take me where I need to go, or you're gonna have to tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute."
She then paused and tried to open the car door. However, it wouldn't open, clearly still locked.
Max stared at Steve. "Open the door."
"Uh, no," Steve said.
"I know a good lawyer."
Max and Steve just continued to look at each other. Finally, Steve let out a scoff and pulled his car keys out from his jacket pocket. Mackenzie couldn't help the small smile of satisfaction that made its way onto her face. Somehow, Steve always managed to cave with them.
Steve nodded to Dustin. "Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst."
He unlocked his car. Mackenzie climbed into the backseat first before Lucas, settling herself down in the middle seat. She was squeezed in between Max and Lucas and was practically suffocated by the tension between them.
None of them spoke during the car ride. Steve had turned on the radio to add some noise, and Hard Feelings sounded throughout the car. Mackenzie kept her gaze down in her hands, where the four envelopes sat. Kenzie, Mike, El, Will. Her heart sunk to the pit of her stomach. She hated this. Mackenzie hated how Max felt she had to do this, how the Upside Down was getting stronger, how people were dying.
It kind of made her want to disappear.
Finally, Steve went to the first destination Max had in mind — the trailer park. He pulled up outside of Max's trailer and parked.
"All right, this better be fast, Mayfield," Steve ordered.
"Twenty seconds," Max promised as she got out of the car and ran up to go inside her trailer.
Steve looked at Dustin's walkie. "That thing's got batteries in it, right?"
Dustin shook his head. "I'm not even answering that question." He stopped for a moment. "Yes, it has batteries."
"Yeah, I got it."
Lucas looked over at Mackenzie. "I'm sorry you couldn't get a hold of Will."
"It's all right," Mackenzie responded. "I just . . . I just wanted to at least hear his voice. Sounds cheesy, but it would've made me feel a little bit better."
"You're right, it is cheesy. But I get it." Lucas looked back forwards. "I miss him, too."
The car went silent again. Max definitely took longer than twenty seconds. It ended up being about five minutes. Instead of sitting in the stuffy car, all of them decided to get out and wait. Dustin rested against the hood of the car while Mackenzie, Steve, and Lucas all stood by the doors, their arms leaning on top of the roof.
Finally, Max came from the backyard. Mackenzie immediately straightened up in concern. Max looked positively panicked and she was breathing heavily.
"Hey, that was longer than twenty seconds," Steve commented. He then noticed Max's state as she walked up besides Mackenzie. "Hey, woah, woah. You all right?"
"I'm fine, just drive," Max stated.
Mackenzie instantly slid back into the middle seat, Max sitting next to her again. The rest of them got in and Steve started the car. Mackenzie looked over at Max worryingly.
"Did something happen?" Lucas questioned.
"Can we please just go?" Max pleaded, sounding choked up again.
Steve backed up and started to drive away again. Mackenzie kept her gaze away from Max, knowing that something definitely did happen, but she didn't want to push, considering that Max basically yelled at her earlier. The car was silent once more, no radio this time to fill. Max continuously told Steve where to go.
"Turn here," Max instructed.
Dustin looked back at her. "Here?"
Mackenzie noted his confusion. They were at a graveyard. However, as they passed a sign saying the name, she understood. This was the cemetery that Billy was buried at. Steve pulled over and parked when Max told him. Max got out and started to climb the hill, but Lucas opened the door and followed after her. Their conversation was muffled, so Mackenzie didn't really know what was going on, but she could tell that Lucas was pleading about something.
He eventually let her go and continue back up the hill. Mackenzie exhaled and got out of the car, watching as Lucas stared after Max. She slowly started to approach Lucas and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her.
"Just leave her be for now," Mackenzie told him softly. "She's got a lot on her plate. Trying to hold on tighter might only push her away right now."
Lucas nodded. He then slung an arm around Mackenzie's shoulders, and Mackenzie reached up, holding onto the hand that was hanging by her arm. They walked back down to the car. The two of them sat on the hood next to each other while Dustin stood outside of the passenger door. Steve had rolled down the windows and was just sitting in the drivers seat.
They all sat in silence and watched Max sit in front of a grave. She had her legs crossed and was staring at the grave. And even from so far away, Mackenzie could see she had another envelope in her hands. It was clear that she had written a letter to Billy.
"All right, it's been long enough," Steve decided after a while, getting out of the car.
"Steve, just give her some time," Lucas protested.
"I have, all right, Sinclair? I'm calling it. If she wants to get a lawyer, she can."
Mackenzie sighed and shook her head, watching as Steve went up the hill to get Max. However, once he reached her, Mackenzie could instantly notice Steve turn panicked. She could faintly hear Steve repeat Max's name over and over again and start to clap in her face.
"Max, wake up!" Steve shouted, his voice clearer now. "Max! Wake up!"
"Something's wrong," Mackenzie voiced.
Steve looked at them. "Guys!"
Mackenzie instantly got up from the hood of the car and ran up the hill, Lucas and Dustin behind her. She skidded to a stop next to Billy's grave and looked down. Her eyes instantly widened. Max's eyes looked cloudy and she wasn't responding to anything.
Vecna.
"Max," Mackenzie pleaded, tears pooling in her eyes. "Max, you have to wake up. Max! Max!"
They all continued to talk to Max, saying her name and saying that she had to get out of there. Mackenzie felt her breath hitch in her throat and her heart rate become faster as tears streamed down her cheeks. She couldn't lose Max. Mackenzie couldn't handle the Upside Down hurting yet another person she loved.
Steve grabbed Dustin's sweatshirt. "Call Nancy and Robin! Go get 'em! Call Nancy and Robin! Go!"
Dustin fell off the small ledge before scrambling up and sprinting back towards the car to get his walkie. Mackenzie reached forwards and shook Max's shoulders, although a bit violently, in effort to snap her out of it.
"Max, come on," Mackenzie said, letting out a small sob, her mind spinning as Steve and Lucas pleaded around her as well. "Max, please. You have to wake up."
Steve glanced over at her momentarily, worry flashing in his eyes. "Kenzie, if you don't breathe, you're going to pass out."
"I don't care," she argued, her chest heaving up and down. "Max, wake up!"
Dustin then came running back up the hill, spilling Max's Walkman and all of her mixtapes on the ground. "What's her favorite song?"
"What?" Lucas demanded.
"No time to explain, just tell me her favorite song!"
"Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush," Mackenzie answered immediately. "She listens to it all the time."
Mackenzie, her eyesight blurry and her hands shaking, searched through all of the mixtapes on the ground. Finally, she found the one with the song. Lucas ripped it out of her shaking hands and opened the case, taking the tape out. Steve put it in her Walkman and put the headphones over Max's ears.
"Now!" Steve yelled.
Lucas pressed play. Mackenzie let out more sobs and continued to plead with Max to wake up. Suddenly, Max started to be lifted up off the ground. She levitated in the air, her head pointing towards the sky. It was exactly like what Eddie said happened to Chrissy. Mackenzie fell back for a second, watching in shock as Max got higher and higher. She then scrambled to her feet.
Her hand reached up to cover her mouth, her sobs getting more frequent. Memories of Max flashed through her mind — seeing her in Mr. Clarke's science class for the first time, introducing herself when the boys were just watching her creepily, trick-or-treating, the Snow Ball, hanging out with her all summer, shopping and having sleepovers with her and El . . . Max Mayfield couldn't die. Not right now.
"No!" Mackenzie screamed, getting to her feet and staring up at Max. "Let her go! Max!"
Finally, it all ended. Max dropped back down to the ground, crumpling onto the grass. Lucas immediately took her in his arms and held her close. Mackenzie sunk to her knees next to Max, crying harder than ever. Max was hyperventilating, but her eyes were back to normal. She glanced around frantically, but instantly held onto Lucas tightly when she realized she was safe.
"I thought we lost you," Lucas cried.
"I'm still . . . I'm still here," Max told them. "I'm still here."
Mackenzie sobbed and leaned her forehead against Steve's arm, trying to will herself to calm down as she reached out and placed a hand on Max's legs. She was still alive.
☾ ★ ☽
sadie sink deserves 5 million awards for this scene holy shit
so obviously I've gotten some questions about now that will is confirmed gay what I'll be doing with this story. I really want to continue it because I love mackenzie lots, but there will be no more romantic feelings between kenzie & will anymore.
obviously there will be for mackenzie, like when I mention how she misses him and such, but since she's still in hawkins they won't reunite until the very end.
my hope for this book was for mackenzie to truly find herself, anyways. that's why she never went to california. she doesn't need to depend on anyone, and she doesn't need a love interest. she just needs to be mackenzie.
I'm planning on writing a coming out scene that will clearly be very emotional since mackenzie is the only one will REALLY trusts and they'll still continue to be best friends because they've been best friends for so long, but they'll no longer be in a relationship.
never in my life would I try to erase someone's sexuality, so if you could just hang around for the ride until the end of the book when everything finally comes unraveled. I've also removed "w. byers" from the title and changed it to stranger things.
love y'all lots <3